Day 328

• 4.15 miles
• 8:03/mile pace
• 0835
• From/To Home
• Last run prior to resuming actual training...that's my hope anyway.   Speaking of training...if we assume that I somehow hang on and finish out the 366 days of streak running then what?   My recent difficulties have convinced me that maybe I won't just run every day for the rest of my life, but, I do have some other very long streaks that I think probably will continue -- like 30+ years of brushing my teeth every single day, no matter what the weather or circumstance may have been.   So, I'm thinking I may be just start another random streak if only so that I can write really depressing posts here every day still.   Any suggestions?   Right now I'm thinking perhaps 25 push ups a day?   Or should it be more?   I'm serious about the suggestion request.

Day 327

• 2.77 miles    (6.39 TTL)
• 7:34/mile pace
• 0600
• Crown Plaza at LAX
• Treadmill run, started slow and increased pace, had an early flight scheduled to Shanghai, so cut this run a bit short, felt fine
• 3.62 miles
• 8:17/mile pace
• 1805
• Hermosa Beach, CA
• Easy run with cousin John, because yeah, I missed my flight to Shanghai -- got to the counter, handed over my passport and China visa only to find out my China visa expired 14 days before.   F.   I spent the rest of the day running around LA;  Chinese embassy, U.S. embassy, Chinese embassy etc. as I was challenged at each stop with some absurd paperwork craziness that ultimately prevented me from pulling the rabbit out of the hat.   Not good, but will probably help keep me from getting sick again as the trip to China threatened to do.   Plus good to see the boys and even Becca was happy to see me since I woke up with Finn last night so she didn't have to....usually she's up and tending to him before I realize he was making noise, but I hadn't fallen asleep yet so the timing was right...for her anyway :). 

Day 326

• 3.11 miles
• 8:16/mile pace
• 0715
• From/To Home
• Went to bed late then woke up a few times with Finn and Case, which all led to the easy justification of sleeping in, which lead to not having much time, which led to a short run....no excuse for how slow it was, but it is done.   Still feeling cruddy, but a little better I guess.   Good enough to start a trip to the other side of the world at least.

Day 325

• 1.82 miles
• 8:22/mile pace
• 2143
• From/To Home
• My efforts are getting less and less impressive...and considering that they were never impressive to begin with it is kind of depressing, but ah, the streak continues and I really think I am starting to feel better again, though still insanely congested.  I think Finn's had the illness for a while, but he doesn't complain as much as I do.  He also can't even start a running streak since he doesn't even know how to walk yet, so...

Day 324

• 1.96 miles
• 7:28/mile pace
• 2030
• From/To home
• Second mile was sub 7 minute pace, but only because I was surprised how slow I was going when I checked the watch at the 1 mile mark.   Think I have some sort of sinus infection, but Becca cashed in a Z-pack subscription she had and gave to me, so hopefully I'll be back to full health soon.

Day 323

• 1.61 miles
• Hardish
• 0705
• From/To Home
• Streak extender.

Day 322

• 1.22 miles
• Slow
• 0710
• From/to Home
• The minimum.  Only the second sub 1.5 mile run of the streak.  Shortly after starting this run I started a debate with myself in regard to the distance necessary for today...I questioned why the minimum distance is 1 mile, when half a mile can be absolutely brutal depending upon conditions etc., I thought about just changing it to half a mile, but then decided I can't change the rules mid-streak because life just doesn't work that way...so I turned around at the .61 mark and sped up on the way home just to get it over with.  
• Being sick, feeling like garbage coming off 2 red-eye flights in a 6 day span is no mental state to be in when you find out you need to book a trip to Asia next week, but hey, it is good to be employed, right?   (Yes Craig, feel free to comment on this -- if there is a time that you could get me to think otherwise then it may be now, while I am exhausted)
• 44 days until streak officially reaches 1 year -- Chinese people associate the number 4 with death.  

Day 321

• 1.98 miles
• 8:04/mile pace
• 1625
• From/To Arrowhead CC
• Difficult.   Definitely in the top 20 hardest runs of the streak to date.  Everything hurt (body aches from cold I have, plus head ache pounding with each step), but at least it wasn't hot.  Arrived from HNL at 7am, went straight to work, then left work at 4pm so I could get this run in before going home for fear that if I waiting until boys went to bed there would be a chance that I would fall asleep and end the streak.   As it turns out it is a good thing I did so as I fell asleep next to Case after reading him books and didn't wake up until a little before midnight -- I still had over 10 minutes, so I could've still managed, but I was glad I didn't have to try and had I not run earlier, who knows, maybe I wouldn't have woken up until after midnight.   Anyway, by the skin of its teeth the streak goes on.   Yeah, I do realize I'm the only one who cares, but hey, I care.
• Decided not to do treadmill simply because my minimum treadmill distance is 2.5 miles and I wanted this one over with even if I had to deal with the heat...again, thankfully that wasn't a problem as it actually rained a bit on me during the run.

Day 320

• 5.81 miles
• 8:09/mile pace
• 0745
• Honolulu (Waikiki), HI
• Recovery issue mystery solved, turns out I have a cold, so discomfort is understandable, though the common cold itself is something I rarely choose to understand.  
• Ran from hotel around Diamond Head, though I wanted to run up it, I never managed to find the entrance? 
• It can't be hard to find, heck, I've even done it before...in 1997, with my sister, a decade before I started doing endurance type exercising...and yet, it was a billion times easier then than I know it would've been today just by looking at it -- I think I would like to be 25 again.

Day 319

• 3.27 miles
• 8:55/mile pace
• 0535
• Honolulu (Waikiki), HI
• Quite a painful run...recovery from previous days long run was very poor, lots of things hurt.  Hemoroids have returned as well.   The steak goes on, damnit.

Day 318

• 18.25 miles
• 8:11/mile pace
• 0420
• From/To Home
• 4:20am has a different meaning to some people than others. 
• Long runs continue to be more difficult than I believe they should be, but I finally warmed up and was able to speed up after a necessary stop in the desert etc.
• Forgetting to have Gatorade in the house is a rookie mistake that I hope I don't make again, but stopping mid-run long bike ride style was kinda nice.

Day 317

• 4.62 miles
• 8:12/mile pace
• 0830
• From/To Home
• Picking up grocery items during the days run adds a little something to the effort...running with rattling stuff could probably get annoying though, which means it is a good thing that I was over halfway home when I stopped to pick stuff up per Ms. Becca's instructions.

Day 316

• 1.85 miles
• 8:35/mile pace
• 0615
• Woodbury, NY
• Streak extenders in nice temperatures are welcomed.  

Day 315

• 6.01 miles
• 7:30/mile pace
• 0620
• Woodbury, NY
• Cut this run a little short as I was afraid of what may happen during my meetings today if I pushed to hard -- no, it's not anything horrible, just that I took red-eye flight here last night, taxied to the hotel, changed cloths and started this run as it would be the only time I could get it in today....so, I feared that I wouldn't be able to think straight if I pushed this run after having slept so little last night.   As it turns out I feel fine, though I'm sure I'll be tired tomorrow.  
• The run was shortened to 10 minute warm up, 4 x 4 minutes hardish with 2 minute recovery between, concluded with 10 minute cool down.
• Countdown to 1 year of streaking:   51 days

Day 314

• 6.35 miles
• 7:50/mile pace
• 0620
• San Bruno, CA
• Very cool run, both temperature wise as well as location -- enjoyed a nice running path around the San Francisco Bay...er, well, part of it.   It is much nicer to run in 50-60 degrees than in 80+.

Day 313

• 8.77 miles
• 7:58/mile pace
• 0515
• To/From Home
• Feeling better!   I signed up for the California International Marathon yesterday.  Time to get serious, what that means I'm not yet sure, but will start reducing the absurd number of cookies I've been eating lately, plus the ice cream and probably start concentrating on sleeping the proper hours and so forth.   We'll see, but very glad I'm feeling better now.

Day 312

• 3.69 miles
• 8:12/mile pace
• 0640
• From/To Home
• Now this is the way to get back on the training plan, with a "recovery day," even though I guess I was recovering from a 19 minute run the previous day :).   Definitely feeling better though, even if the pedestrian figures above may not show it.  

Day 311

• 2.4 miles
• 8:03/mile pace
• 1652
• From/To Home
• OK, I think I seriously might be back...yeah, I'm pumped about it...and yes, I am saying this after a run that lasted less than 20 minutes and was over 100 minutes short of the prescribed time on my feet for the day.  What's really a shame is that I realized how close I was to the Dean end of South Mountain on Saturday night and was excited to get up and put in some serious time there, plus feel good about a long run again etc., then the morning came and I decided a lay off isn't really a real lay off unless it eliminates a long run right?   Well, that plus the fact that we were on "stay-cation" made it easy for me to decide to get in a streak extender only sometime later in the day...assuming at that point that I would do so on the treadmill.   Well, as the temperature reached it's apex, I decided, well, I don't feel bad...and I'm only going a short distance at a slow pace, plus I probably should log one run at a stupidly high temperature to legitimize this streak thing I've got going, so I'll just run a 5pm when it was 112 degrees F.   Turns out that it wasn't so bad, which made me feel good, which makes me feel like I seriously might be back....I felt like at any point I could've sped up without really taxing myself too much....I haven't felt like that in weeks, so, yeah, I'll consider myself back until otherwise notified by my body or mind.
• Speaking of being back -- a great friend and training partner (Dean) convinced me last week that there really is no point in changing my goals, so, back to training for sub-3 hour marathon time will now begin...here's hoping I get some confidence along the way, but even if I don't I'm going after it, so stay tuned!

Day 310

• 1.7 miles
• Slow
• 0710
• From/To Home
• Inspired by the 12 mile run my wife completed before this run I really pushed the distance today...head still lethargic, thinking the short and slow runs will extend another day at least.

Day 309

• 1.75 miles
• Slow
• 0715
• From/To Home
• Proving that it is all about mental preparation and attitude, this run was one of the hardest to date...that stated, I still plan to take it easy through tomorrow to see if I can bounce back a little bit.   I would like to feel legitimately good, like, spring in my step good (I don't feel bad/sick or anything, just sluggish) by Sunday so I could at least get in the long run, but we shall see. 

Day 308

• 1.7 miles
• Slow
• 0640
• From/To Home
• Have decided to take it very easy for a few days to see if that will help me...yes, I am concerned about the fact that I will not be "improving" my fitness, but when JEC asked the other day if I were perhaps overtrained it seemed quite possible...so...today I ran a very slow loop within the neighborhood and only sped up when I caught up to a pregnant lady that has been faithfully running throughout her entire pregnancy, which I estimate to be 8 months long and counting -- seems I am more vain than I am committed to the extended recovery effort, but the increased speed only lasted maybe .2/mile, so probably no harm done.  

Day 307

• 5 miles
• 8:10/mile pace
• 0650
• From/To home
• Super easy 35 minutes followed by hard 5 minutes. 

Day 306

• 1.81 miles
• 8:53/mile pace
• 0715
• From/To Home
• Slow streak extender, probably slowest I have run in 2012.

Day 305

• 13.25 miles
• 7:42/mile pace
• 0530
• Tempe, AZ -- IMAZ loop plus a bit
• Well, another collosal failure.   Seriously, I didn't have it at all...and I can't even think of any excuses.   Previous disappointing long runs included G.I. issues, heat, whatever...this one, just plain inability to come close to the scheduled pace.   By not close I mean, similar to how far off I'd have been from the podium if I'd have run in the 100 meter final against (Olympic spoiler alert! -- NBC coverage is so frustrating...we live in America and can't even watch anything live...???)  Usain Bolt and the rest of the insanely fast finals field.   Not sure what to make of it, not wanting to give up, but wondering if perhaps I should...by giving up I mostly mean adjusting my goals, but when I was supposed to speed up at the end of this long run and ended up actually slowing down overall, well, at that point I was wondering if adjustment of my goals might include refamiliarizing myself with my golf clubs.   I definitely have confidence issues right now, but I'm thinking there must be something more to it than that as concern over ability to maintain certain speeds shouldn't affect me to the point of not being able to make previously (like a month or 2 ago) easily maintained speeds.  Odd, but hey, at least I didn't get eaten by any alligators.  

Day 304

• 5.11 miles
• 7:31/mile pace
• 0414
• From/To Home
• Slower than it felt, but isn't that more common than not?   Surprisingly warm/hot this morning considering the early start time -- Becca wanted to do a long run this morning, so I had to finish before her scheduled 5am start time...I thought that would've made for a nice cool run, but yeah, it's August.  

Day 303

• 1.82 miles
• 8:33/mile pace
• 0555
• From/To Home
• One loop around the neighborhood.   Finishing a short and slow run early in the day then watching recorded Olympics before work is a really cool way to start the day.  Perhaps not as 'cool' as Case's since he decided to play in the sprinklers at 7am and get his little brother to crawl behind him to enjoy the same, but cool none-the-less.

Day 302

• 8.19 miles
• 7:20/mile pace
• 0555
• From/To Home
• 11 minute warm up, 5 x 5 minutes hardish with 2 minute recovery between, 14 minute cooldown/return-home.  This turned out to be a hard day.

Day 301

• 3.68 miles
• 8:09/mile pace
• 0700
• From/To Home
• I'm slow, but consistent.  65 days to go until I have a decision to make about this streaking thing...well, that is if all goes well.